Micah.Berry

Thanks Landar. I have paid attention to your posts as they have been helpful to me learning about what I should expect. One other note. The tape player didn't accept tapes when I bought the LS. I didn't realize it until I tried to input my cassette adapter that plugs into my iPhone. I took the radio out (thank you Lexus Owners Forum) and sent it to Jodies Repair in Connecticut. They fixed the alignment of the cassette tray and went even further by working to quiet the little motors. All this was completed in about a day for $95. Very satisfied with the service, especially considering that a used radio was going for more than $200 on Ebay. I found the shop on Ebay as it was advertising changing out the LCD screens for something like $140 or $150. Somewhere, I have their number if anyone wants it. Happy motoring! Micah

Thought I would write down my overall impressions with my 99 LS that I have had for almost a month now. Background – I was driving a 1990 Miata that I’ve owned for 10 years, that I purchased from my father and who purchased it back from me when I moved to the LS. With a roll bar and anti sway bars installed, the car cornered as if on rails. Blazing amounts of fun on the right road, but not a lot of power to the engine. It’s part of the fun to keep the engine singing! However, my life situation has changed and I needed a car that could haul my family and serve well on long interstate trips that I occasionally do (800+ mile trips). I have wanted an LS 400 since the day my parents test drove one back around 1992. Timing and budget never seemed right during the ensuing years because of one thing or another. But with a little work and a little savings, I ended up with some cash to buy what I hoped to be a well maintained car. Thus, I came across a black 1999 LS 400 with a tan interior in Kansas City. Thanks to the forum here for letting me know that I wasn’t getting bowled over on price and for what to look for regarding the car. The LS is the smoothest car that I have ever been in, both in terms of vibration and road going manners. There is nothing “nervous” about the ride. I get to drive lots of nice rental cars, including Expeditions, Suburbans, Chrysler 300’s, and so on as a part of my travels for work. The LS is just as smooth as any of the newest V8s I have driven, and it’s still quieter at all engine speeds. I think with a proper set of tires on my car, the ambient road noise would diminish considerably. The car currently has Goodyear Integrity tires, of which I’ve read fairly poor reviews on Tire Rack. The poor reviews, plus the road noise at 65+ mph will have me searching for the right pair of Michelins when the time comes to replace them. The LS is deceptively quick. I have floored it twice, and have been very impressed at how speed increases. Feels like all 290 horses are under the hood, and oh yes… THAT’s what torque feels like! The quiet nature and smooth running of the car mean that I exceed the speed limit with out realizing it. I am developing a habit of using the cruise control, and I’m going to install my Valentine 1, just for a little extra heads-up. While driving it, I am aware that I am piloting a large car – which is probably accentuated by the soft suspension and also having owned a Miata. Everything is muted within the driving experience. Bumps and potholes are gone over gracefully, if I can use that word. As a consequence of the soft suspension, I don’t feel as though the car is “tossable” into corners, but oddly, it doesn’t float while in sweepers as I’ve experienced in my mother-in-law’s Lincoln Towncar. I am trying to figure out how the damping rates might have been designed to make the LS not float, yet absorb bumps so as not to transmit them into the cabin. I think it’s pretty incredible. The seats are all day comfortable. Based on the information in this forum, I have purchased and used the Leatherique Rejuvenating Oil and Woolite/Water mix for clean up. The seats weren’t too bad to begin with, and the oil has increased the suppleness of the leather somewhat. It was $40 for a 16 oz. bottle, and I’m not sure that I will repurchase. My wife and I did a 200 mile trip last Friday, and the car did superbly. It’s first “real” roadtrip will be in a couple weeks when I take my wife and two friends to Dallas for a couple days. That’s a 500 mile round trip. The following week, I will be completing a 1200 mile round trip for my work, where most of the trip, my manager will be with me. I expect that the LS will impress with its cabin comforts and ride, and I am thoroughly pleased that I made the purchase! I hope this car lasts a long time. I have become a sedate car driver of late. With an easy driving style and doing all the required maintenance, I would like to drive this car for a long time! Micah

Exactly the kind of information that I was looking for!! The dealership that I bought my 99 LS from put brand new Goodyear Integrity tires on, and they are noisier that I would think an LS should be. While I'm not going to replace the tires very soon, I am a planner - thus am already gathering information useful for my next tire purchase. I am quickly realizing that the priorities for tires that I had for my Miata are NOT the same as for the LS. Even given that the tires transmit more road noise than I think appropriate, the car is still quiet at speed, and one can have a "normal-voiced" conversation. It's the best travel car that I've ever been in. Micah

Marklouis, Looks like a nice car! 300 miles on a single charge is great. I found it interesting where the website states that the base price includes the $7,500 tax credit. Does mean that the price is really $57,400? Good that you're keeping your Lexus. It'll make a great road trip car while the Tesla could serve as a city run-about. Congrats on the new toy. :) Micah

Coctailer, are you referring to this: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83 It discusses the climate control and radio display. Micah

Glad to help. I'm continuing my search for a reasonably priced 98-00 black mirror.

Mark, I found one on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OEM-POWER-MIRROR-1995-2000-LEXUS-LS-400-HEATED-MEMORY-R-/110522603270?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19bba91706#ht_500wt_1182 $49.99 current bid. It's taken from a 96 LS, and I THINK it's black. I thought it might help you. Micah

Aahhh.... If the housing has been redesigned to reduce wind noise, then a retrofit from an earlier 95 - 97 car won't do. That's unfortunate as there are many floating around on eBay right now... Thanks for the research! Micah

Thanks, Bill! The next one that I talk to, I'll ask the question. I did not think to ask them. The salvage yard folks that I have spoken to have wanted $300 to $350 for the whole unit. (ouch!) Thus, I'm shopping eBay for the mirror. I'll probably have to do the same thing with the stereo too - purchase one off eBay to install. The search continues... Micah

I am working on replacing the housing for my passenger mirror in my black 99 LS. Does anyone know if the mirrors are the same between the 95-97 years to the 98-00 years? I pretty sure that the earlier models don't have the auto dimming function, but I'm specifically referring to the housing. My passenger mirror works great, but the housing is cracked and piece missing. I need to know if I purchase a complete 95-97 mirror and swap the plastic housing for my cracked up housing. Thanks! Micah

Congrats! You don't mention whether you bought this car at a dealer or used car lot. A dealer will have the paperwork as proof, there will be a sticker on the block somewhere, and your service maintenance records should be stamped. Independants are at the mercy of what the previous owner supplies with the car. You also don't mention what the current mileage is. Good advice from everyone here. No need to inspect anything. TB service considerations are as easy as it gets. Follow the recommended schedule (critical with vvt) Use only OEM parts Use qualified techs (preferably with Lexus experience) Replace all related parts as has been mentioned Keep a history of all work done to the car Went over the service records with the sales guy. The 90k service at the Kansas City Superior Lexus dealer was done at 93k miles. I noticed that the description included checking the water pump versus replacing the water pump. I found that odd as other vehicles that I've owned recommended a water pump change with the timing belt. When I get back home on Friday I will call the Lexus dealer to see if the water pump was changed and possibly the description is wrong. Before I bought the car, I took it to an independent mechanic for a pre-purchase look-see. After about an hour, he told me, "you know, this car is in really good shape." He seemed pretty impressed. He didn't compression test the engine though with as smooth as the car runs, I believe they are within spec. There are three things that need to be addressed with this car: 1. The right side rear view mirror housing is cracked with a large chunk of plastic missing. I think that I can simply replace the plastic housing from a salvage car. The mirror motor works just fine. 2. The tape player doesn't work. This is actually pretty important to me because I use a tape adapter connected to my iPhone to listen to my playlists, Pandora, and my phone cradle uses the car's speakers for a speaker phone. Without the tape player, I have to use the very weak FM transmitter, which is very unsatisfactory. The tape player doesn't accept a tape easily (though there's nothing in the cassette "bay"), and the cassette bay or cradle (whatever it's called) doesn't move the cassette down to the tape reader for playback. All my dash lights work - there's not one LCD that's faded or missing. I am going to see if a stereo repair place can get it to work first before I look into swapping out the stereo. 3. There is a quarter sized gouge in the vinyl on the passenger door, that's against the door jam. It's not very noticeable, and is lowest on the priority list. When we first got in the car, it was really dirty. We requested that someone clean it up before we took possession. The dealer did this, but they did a basic wipe down. The dealer put 4 new tires on too - Goodyear Integrity tires. I believe these are "value" tires. I can hear a good amount of road noise, more than I think there should be in an LS, but I don't have a reference car-I'm just guessing. The leather needs to be cleaned and conditioned, seatbelts cleaned, and the carpets need to be vacuumed, cleaned, and Scotchguard applied. It also needs a good wash and wax/polish. It's a black exterior, with the gray lower and a tan interior. The car has 112500 miles after the 230 mile trip home. We drove up on our Suzuki XL-7 (which by the way is an excellent little SUV), and I drove the LS400 home. My impressions are as follows: I can just barely hear the engine at idle with the stereo off and the HVAC off, but it's got a beautiful muted growl when floored on the interstate. The steering is very, very light when driving around the parking lot. It's the quietest car I've driven at speed. Bumps are well damped and don't upset the chassis, and oddly, the body doesn't lean as I thought it would when going around curves given what I consider to be a soft suspension. My hind side was complaining after the trip up in the Suzuki. But I was ready for more driving after getting home with the LS. The seats are that comfortable. I read a post on this forum that said the seats were living room chair quality - and they really are. I'm dumbfounded at how comfy this car is. This is my first V8, and its been a long, long time since I've had a car which required premium unleaded. Our XL-7 is a 2.7 liter V-6 and gets 20 mpg on the highway. The LS thus far has returned about 28-29 according to the computer. Even if it's a little optimistic, on a per mile fuel consumption basis, the LS is cheaper to drive than the XL-7. So I have a little work to do to make this car great. I'm taking efforts to read the detail forum here to get the best information I can on cleaning products and polishes. Thanks for all your help in advance! Micah

I'm going to pick up my new-to-me 1999 Lexus LS tomorrow! I very excited about it. Sales person stated that the car has had its 90k and 100k service completed, and offered to write that down for my records. Here's the question: I did a search here on "timing belt check" and learned that I could check the timing belt on a non-interference engine fairly quickly. Is there a "how-to" on checking the belt's condition on an interference engine? I'd get a lot more comfort being able to check the belt's condition myself. 90k is supposed to have a water pump change as well, I realize. But based on my readings here, there's no way to check the condition of the water pump, right? Thanks for your help! Micah

1990LS400, what did the bushing replacement cost you? Thanks, Micah

Thanks, I'm pretty excited about it! Looking forward to Saturday morning!

Bought it. I pick it up in a week. Pictures to come!

Little more clarification: Actual quote is $8988 with all fees. So that's out the door price. Micah

Quick question for anyone... I've identified a 99 LS400 at a reasonably close Toyota dealer. Price quoted to me is $8900. That's within my budget, but the very top of my budget. The car has had its 90k and 100k service completed according to the delaer and is a no wreck car (at least according to CarFax). According to the pics, it looks good inside and out except for a few paint chips on the front air dam. Miles on it are 112k. I really like that it has had the services completed. Is this a good price? Shoot me straight. I'm tempted to take it, and I need to decide somewhat quickly. Thanks! Micah

Thanks, Brett. I'm fairly certain my budget will not allow for an 06 model, unfortunately. I'm determined not to finance the car, so adding to my savings with a bank loan is not an option (though somewhat tempting). But I'm happy searching for a 400 while I will start saving for my next Lexus, which will be for my wife, who really likes the LX470. I've not put any research into those except for the occasional look to see where pricing falls. My question for everyone related to the 430 versus 400 posts above is would any one look for a high mile LS430 (like 170k plus miles) over a low mile LS400 (again, in the 98 - 00 year model range). My thought is that the lower mileage LS400 would be the way to go, noting that it *is* an older car, thus fluids, belts, and hoses will probably need attention quickly. Wouldn't the same mechanical issues that plague all high mileage cars affect an LS430? I'm specifically thinking about suspension, maintenance oversights, electrical gremlins, and so on. Thanks so much for everyone's help. Micah

Thanks again for the advice. CarFax helped me avoid a car that had been hit, with a side airbag that went off. Called an out-of-town Lexus dealer who stated that the car had no record of a 90k service. I'm guessing that the mileage that I'm looking for (100 to 130k), I'll probably have to factor a timing belt change. I'm not afraid to turn a wrench, but that job makes me shake my head... Lex460, I would enjoy a 430 - in fact, I like the design of the interiors better (though I'm partial to the exterior design of the 98-00). My thought is that I would be looking at 430's with 170k miles, which gives me hesitation - even given that the car is a Lexus. Thus, the search for the previous model. I drive about 10k miles per year, so that's approximately 4 years or more of driving that I'm giving up by moving up to the 430. Don't know if that's the right way to look at it though. Every one is right about being able to wait until the "right" car presents itself. I will have cash in hand when the car does present itself, but wow... Patience can be hard. I know that the benefits will far outweigh the costs in the end. I know that I am going to have to travel somewhere to get the car. A long distance purchase of this magnitude is new to me. I'm willing to do make the purchase, but as everyone has said, patience is paramount. Thanks again for all the advice. I am continuing to search! :) Micah

Thanks Jim and Landar! Jim, that's great advice... I figure that I will probably print this thread and take it with me. I was originally a little leery of purchasing from a private seller, especially considering that I will probably have to travel a ways to get to the seller. I will certainly reconsider, and include private sellers in my searching. Landar, I saw your pictures... So sorry for your loss! Also, thanks for the tip on Carfax and getting the car on a lift. I was figuring I'd need to bring a towel, and prepare to scoot around on the ground! A lift would make things easier! Micah

I’ve been a lurker for some time, and now it’s time to introduce myself. I'm Micah, and I’ve wanted an LS for a long time, and have finally saved a little money to purchase one. I’m starting to seriously search for a 98 – 00 LS. Given my budget, most of the cars that I’ve seen have been in the 110 to 135k mile range, which isn’t a bad thing as I’ve read from these forums. I’m located in NW Arkansas, and there’s not a lot of selection of LS’s around here. I’m prepared to travel to pick up the car. Here’s what I know to look for thus far: 1. TB/WP replacement. Call a dealer willing to look up the service records by VIN. 2. Pay attention to suspension parts 3. Have some one else start the car, stand at the back and see if the exhaust blows white or black puffs of smoke on start up. Wipe the inside of the exhaust pipe to see if the residue is dark black, indicating oil consumption 4. Get underneath the car and look for leaks at the oil pan, transmission housing, and power steering pumps. 5. Check to see that the hoses aren’t cracked or hard to flex. 6. Car should idle dead smooth around 750 to 800 (I think) 7. On a test drive, listen for any obvious clunks going over bumps (indicating worn control arms or bushings) and odd vibrations 8. Acceleration should be smooth and strong. 9. Shifting should be smooth under all acceleration loads. What am I missing that would cause me to hop back in a taxi and head to the airport? Things I don’t know: 1. Do heated seats affect the suppleness of the leather? I would think so in a 12 year old car. 2. I’m not in a rush to buy any old car, albeit an LS. Thus, are there any recommendations on sellers/dealers? 3. I know that the radio display is an inexpensive fix with a forum member here, so that’s not a deal breaker. I’m keeping my eye peeled for something pristine, but what are really easy fix-its that I can look over when examining a potential car? 4. Most of the cars that I’ve seen online have engines that have been cleaned. I do not do this with my cars as I had a bad experience getting water where it shouldn’t have been. Do most of you wash your engines? Is this something that I should shy away from when looking at cars? 5. What pertinent questions would you ask the seller? I currently drive a 90 Miata. It handles incredibly after a few modifications; however, I think I am ready for something a lot more smooth, far more comfortable, and something my family can fit into. Thanks for reading this long first post!! :) Micah